Damn it, Kurosaki!
by xXRottWeilerXx
Summary: If only she knew, Orihime wouldn't have listened to Tsubaki. WARNING: Because I'm naughty, this fic might contain some suggestive scenes.


**Damn it, Kurosaki-kun!  
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><p><strong>AN: I know, I'm such a bad person! I should be updating my stories but I just found this fic in my flash drive and after editing it to perfection -I hope so- it seemed just evil of me to not publish this one, ne? It was valentines when I did this (wow, it's six months already?) and I was lonely so I decided to do something to get me out from the depth of self-pity and extreme boredom. So here ya have it, an IchiHime oneshot. This is my first IchiHime oneshot so I hope I get nice reviews. Hugs and kisses!**

"Oopsie… there." She let out a breath as she let her back lean against the bark, letting her slim legs dangle from the thick branch she had settled on.

"What the hell, Orihime! Get down here!"

Said name gasped as she instantly righted herself on the branch, nearly falling off the tree as she heard Tatsuki hollered out from below. Smiling brightly at her child hood friend, Orihime waved at her.

"I'm okay, Tatsuki-chan! I won't fall again!"

Tatsuki tapped her foot impatiently as she crossed her arms across her chest. A vein popped up on her left temple as she watched her red-headed friend swing her legs, oblivious to the fact that her skirt was fluttering dangerously high on her hips.

"I can see your panties from here, baka!"

She laughed out at Tatsuki's funny reaction, and smiled sweetly at her friend. She knew what Tatsuki was saying, but she waved it off. The tree she climbed on was at the school backyard, overlooking the deep forest not far from the school. Being situated at the top of a hill, Karakura High was the best spot for sight-seeing. And for Orihime, this secret space behind the school's library was her sanctuary aside from her lonely apartment. No one else knew about this place, except tatsuki, that is. She had forgotten to mask her reiatsu that one time and Tatsuki had scolded her for carelessly swinging her legs, afraid that she'll fall off and crack her skull.

"Tatsuki-chan, no one's here."

Still tapping her foot, Tatsuki spun around to look out for others. Orihime was right, there was no one else there except for them both. But still, she found Orihime that one time, and maybe someone else was bound to find them if not sooner than later.

Noticing Tatsuki was taking a glance at her watch, Orihime remembered that her friend had Karate practice.

"Ne, Tatsuki-chan, you'll be late for your practice."

Orihime could see Tatsuki nodding, but the dark-haired girl still didn't move away from her spot. She seemed deep in thought.

"Tatsuki-chan?"

"Orihime, you're going home without me again… It seems that I've been spending lesser time with you… "

There it was, the guilt in Tatsuki's voice. She didn't understand why others worried over her. She lived alone, in an apartment, and she was doing fine by herself. Yet her friends always seemed to think that she needed somebody there for her. Orihime admitted it, she was the least strongest in her team of friends. But she had Tsubaki, and for more than one occasion, that was enough for her to fend for herself and buy some time to wait for the others to arrive.

She sighed. Why was she being so ungrateful after all Tatsuki had done for her. Her friend was just trying to help, and with her constant refusal to walk home with Tatsuki just so that she could focus on the school team's Karate Championship was making situations worse. Although it was hard, but Orihime managed to force on a beaming smile as Tatsuki looked up to her.

"What are you talking about, Tatsuki-chan? I'm fine by myself! Anyway, you have to practice a lot more since your team is going to the nationals, right?"

"But it's gonna rain soon… And haven't you heard the news? About some prisoners on the loose…"

Orihime thought for a while, then she clasped her hands in delight.

"Then I'll ask Ishida-kun and Sado-kun to walk me home, ne?"

Tatsuki was reluctant, but she nodded anyways. "Yeah, guess you're right."

Turning around to walk towards the indoor gym, she stopped for a while to call out to Orihime.

"Yes?" The red-head answered, blinking her grey eyes as she did so.

"You know I can always ask Ichigo to walk you home, since his house is nearer anyway."

Tatsuki didn't notice as Orihime's smile faltered a fraction when the healer had replied with an all-too-cheerful smile and a nod.

Once the dark-haired tomboy was out of site, Orihime sighed.

"Why is it that you always mention Kurosaki-kun…"

It had been more than a year since the Winter War ended, and it had been recent when her nightmares which replayed her days spent in captivity during her time in Hueco Mundo stopped. Although Ichigo had lost his powers after the war, but he managed to regain his powers some time after they started their last year of high school. And he went from punk to ultimate punk, his scowl seemed more menacing and he still held off girls with that scary aura around him. But somehow these qualities made her like him more than before. They were getting closer too, ever since they came back from war. He had started talking to her more, and he had taken to answer her morning greetings with a twitch of a corner of his mouth rather than the usual nod in acknowledgement. For others who didn't know him well would not take the slight twitch as a smile, not even a smirk. But for those who knew him, fought with him in countless battles knew; that he was indeed smiling, even for a split second. And it was enough for her. She would reply with a beaming smile of her own.

But lately her heart had been bad. She didn't know why, but every time she saw him fighting off hollows with Rukia by his side, she couldn't help but feel sad. Maybe it was envy, but she it was still a sad feeling. It always happened during her leisure walks around town, when the hollows would come out from nowhere and there would be the duo, constantly shouting obscenities at each other but still managed to wipe out those hollows. What she felt wasn't the usual he's-my-man-so-back-off kind of jealousy, no. She well knew Rukia held no romantic feelings towards Ichigo, she even knobbed Orihime on the head for thinking like that. What she felt was different.

She was jealous of Rukia's power. Rukia was strong, she was a small woman yet she could wield a sword and slay hollows as if they were mere bugs. And Ichigo had no problems when Rukia was there to fight with him, because he knew she was capable of fending for herself.

But her... Orihime couldn't help but feel helpless when he would ask her to stay back, in case the hollows would come after her and hurt her. He protected her, knowing that she could get hurt. He might not have realized it, but that in itself showed how much she was incapable of fights.

She held a hand against her heart, and sighed heavily.

"Heart-san, why are you being so bad? Kuchiki-no, Rukia-chan is my friend, how could you?"

_It's okay you know, to feel that way towards a stronger woman. That Kurosaki punk is another story though. Do you realize there are other guys out there, who seemed to notice you and actually wants to date you? Forget about that bad ass shinigami and find yourself another guy._

Orihime pouted at the voice in her head. Lately Tsubaki seemed to converse with her more frequently these days but all he seemed to talk about was not so nice stuff.

"Tsubaki, Kurosaki-kun isn't a punk, he's a nice guy."

_Yeah, he tells you to stay back and leaves you alone to fight with Kuchiki and then comes back injured, expecting you to fix him up. He's nice alright._

Orihime smiled sadly. "At least he knows where to ask for help when he's injured. He recognizes my abilities to heal others, Tsubaki. Isn't that enough?"

_Enough for you, but it ain't enough for me. I want you to be with someone who actually calls you by your name after he gets to know you. That punk still calls you Inoue after all you guys have gone through. _

"Maybe it's because I call him Kurosaki-kun?"

Tsubaki materialized and hovered in front of her face, pulling her cheeks. "That's not the point, stupid woman!"

Orihime flailed her arms around and nearly fell off the branch when she yanked Tsubaki off her face. The little creature however, managed to slip away from her grip and crossed his arms over his chest and rested on top of her head.

"What I mean is, stupid woman, is that... don't you feel pissed? After all you've done he still thinks you're just a friend. Maybe a close friend, but still, he keeps you at a distance by calling you with your surname."

Orihime's face fell. "You're kind of right, Tsubaki. But what can I do? I feel so heavy here," she clutched the fabric at her chest, "I feel so wrong to have fallen for him. Maybe he deserves someone stronger than me- OW! Owie!"

Again, Tsubaki growled and pulled her hair. "Baka! It's the other way round! _HE_ does NOT deserve _YOU_! You deserve someone better! And don't give me that ugly face!"

The healer blinked as she rubbed her head, nursing the aching scalp when Tsubaki had released her to hover in front of her. "But I'm sad, what _do _you want me to do?"

The little flying human rested his hands on his hips and as if he had the higher authority, he said, "Instead of giving me that face, you can shout out your frustrations."

Orihime shifted in her place before she blinked at him. "Shout? But, people will hear."

Tsubaki rolled his eyes and motioned towards the woods, behind him. "You're safe here, right? That's what you said when Tatsuki found you. Shout out how you hate it when everyone thinks you're not strong enough, and you'll feel better. Now," he pounded a fist against his chest and sat on her shoulder.

"Repeat after me."

Orihime nodded, unsure of what was coming. She watched as Tsubaki took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring.

"DAMN IT, KUROSAKI!"

Her back instantly straightened, and automatically, she repeated after Tsubaki.

"D-DAMN IT, KUROSAKI-KUN!"

"I AM NOT WEAK, YOU MORON!"

"I-I AM NOT WEAK, YOU M-MORON!"

Tsubaki punched a fist in the air as he noticed Orihime was now standing on the branch, her momentum slowly building up. The rain started pouring but she didn't seem to mind.

"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FIGHT, HUH?"

"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FIGHT, HUH? KUROSAKI-KUN? HUH?"

"WELL TOO BAD, YOU LITTLE STRAWBERRY! I HAVE TSUBAKI AND I HAVE A NEW MOVE! EAT THAT, KUROSAKI!"

By this time, Orihime felt lightheaded all of the sudden and automatically shut off Tsubaki's voice.

"WELL TOO BAD, KUROSAKI-KUN! I HAVE A NEW MOVE AND IT'S SOOO COOL YOU WON'T EVEN BELIEVE I ACTUALLY CAN DO IT! DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT'S IT CALLED? HUH? DO YOU?"

"Oi, woman-"

"WELL IT'S CALLED SHITEN KOUSHUN! I TOLD YOU! IT'S COOL! NOW WHO'S WEAK NOW, HUH?"

Tsubaki scowled when it was clear Orihime tuned him out for like five minutes ago and he didn't even notice it. He was glad, of course, that she had finally let out some steam, but really, she was going a little bit too far.

"Oi, woman!"

Orihime punched out a hand, and nearly swatted Tsubaki away with it.

"WHAT? YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, KUROSAKI-KUN! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS PROTECT ME! I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU MAKE ME FEEL WEAK! I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT THAT I'M NOT A FIGHTER LIKE YOU! I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO DENSE WHEN IT'S CLEAR THAT I LIKE YOU! DON'T YOU KNOW KUROSAKI-KUN? I LIKE YOU!"

At this point, Tsubaki gave up from getting Orihime's attention and just sat on her head, the safest place to be when Inoue Orihime was busy pouring her heart out while she made weird gestures with her two hands. She had good balance, though.

"DIDN'T YOU KNOW?"

Tsubaki scratched a spot under his chin and replied nonchalantly.

"Know what?"

He meant for the question to be rhetorical, since he knew the female was too busy shouting out her frustrations, so when he felt Orihime's straightened posture slump a bit, he raised a brow. He rolled his eyes as she sighed almost quietly and looked downcast.

"Didn't you know… Before I went to Hueco Mundo… I made a vow that if… that if I… if I were to live five lifetimes, I would always love one person… Didn't you know… Kurosaki-kun?"

Feeling somewhat sad for his master, Tsubaki sighed and patted her head with a small hand.

"There, there, stupid woman…"

Orihime smiled a bit at Tsubaki's weird way of showing affection. "He doesn't know, right?"

"Yup, he's a stubborn punk and a stupid bastard."

"No, he's not. He's just… withdrawn… sometimes I just wish… I just wish that I know what to do to cheer him up… you know… The right words to say to him… I want to be a good friend to him, like Sado-kun and Renji-kun and Rukia-chan and Tatsuki-chan…"

"Hey, it's raining."

"I love him. I know, it's stupid."

Tsubaki had stood up, ready to get back into her hairpin because the raindrops were wetting him, and because he felt someone else's reiatsu stir somewhere near her. He couldn't be bothered to look.

"Yeah, it's stupid. Bye."

The rain pelted against her skin, drenching her clothes while she lowered herself to sit on the branch, deep in thought. She felt so exhilarated when she had been yelling with Tsubaki that she failed to notice her reiatsu wasn't masked.

"I hate you, Kurosaki-kun… for making me feel this way. I hate you! I REALLY REALLY REALLY HATE YOU!"

She breathed out a satisfied sigh. There, she had done it.

"Uh… Inoue?"

Orihime could feel her hair stand up as she heard his voice. His voice that never failed to soothe her heart like chocolate barbecue sauce and caress her sensitive ears like velveteen.

As if in slow motion, she turned her head to look at an orange-haired shinigami perched on a branch just behind her with his trusty sword strapped onto his back. He had an unreadable expression on his face, it was a mix of surprise and something else, accompanied by a dust of blush on his cheeks.

The rain had wet her hair, causing her eyes to be covered by her wet bangs. But she saw him. She saw him alright.

"K-K-Kuro…Kurosaki-kun!"

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><p>He was tired, his body ached all over, and he wanted to punch someone in the head. Namely a certain midget shinigami who just happened to leave him to deal with a bunch of big ass hollows while she fetched a package from Urahara's. She had said he was lucky because the hollows were small fries just before she disappeared from his side, a big grin on her face.<p>

"Bitch." He had muttered grudgingly as he slain the last hollow.

The hollows were far from being small fries. They were huge, all fifteen of them, and if it wasn't because of his years as a well-trained shinigami, he could have easily lost an arm. Or maybe his head. The hollows were big, and feisty.

"You're so gonna be dead, Rukia." He grumbled again as he noticed the clouds above were turning a darker shade of grey, a clear sign that rain was definitely coming.

Strapping Zangetsu back onto its place, Ichigo flash stepped towards school, where Rukia had left his body against a tree near the library. He cursed when rain started drizzling, and then he gave up flash-stepping when it started pouring buckets as he arrived at the school gate.

His body was going to be drenched, and he would definitely come home looking like a dripping cat, again. And judging from the last three rainy days, he was probably going to come down with a cold the next day.

Ichigo thought he had already learnt his lesson when dealing with Rukia, when she had unceremoniously dumped his body under a girl's table, in the most ridiculous position one could ever imagine. Next thing he knew when he returned to his body, he suffered from a serious case of body aches and had an eyeful of that girl's underwear when she returned to the classroom to retrieve her forgotten Chemistry book.

He blushed as he recalled the red lace and milky thighs.

The girl wasn't any girl.

She was Inoue Orihime. His friend for Christ sake. He had sputtered and blushed when she found him under her table, oblivious to the fact that he had seen her panties. She smiled at him and helped him out from under her table, before she gave him a cheery goodbye and walked out of the class. Rukia had come in later, only to find the Visored staring off into space and a blush coloring the apples of his cheeks.

He stepped into a puddle and stopped for a while to clear his head from that torturous –but god help him, it was heavenly- sight.

_**I'm glad ya stayed there a lil' while longer, King. Couldn't have seen her nice panties if ya hadn't then, would ya?**_

Said King cursed his hollow and was replied with one of its dark cackle before it disappeared into the depth of Ichigo's mind.

He started to walk again when he stopped short. He felt a familiar reiatsu nearby, exactly close to where Rukia had said she left his body before she rushed to Urahara's for her Chappy Limited Edition merchandise.

The reiatsu was familiar. He closed his eyes as he stayed there in the rain to focus on the familiar reiatsu.

It was warm, soothing and calming. He knew this person, and his eyes snapped open when he felt the reiatsu flaring. Something was going on with the owner of the familiar reiatsu, and it made Ichigo worry for a bit, ready to flash step towards the spot where the reiatsu was coming from, before he stopped short when he felt the spike suddenly mellowed into the all-too familiar pattern again.

_Is she in trouble again? No. I can't sense any hollows here._

_**Is it necessary for her to be in danger to have her reiatsu spiking up like that just now?**_

Ichigo growled when his inner hollow suddenly butted into his thoughts uninvited, again. Pinpointing Orihime's exact location, he slowed down when he thought of his hollow's word.

_What do you mean by necessary? Of course she's in some kind of trouble if her reiatsu flared like that. What else?_

His white-skinned counterpart gave out an amused snort.

_**It did spike up, for like ten seconds and suddenly it's all okay. Maybe Hime-chan isn't in trouble at all.**_

Annoyed at his hollow's uncomfortable way of calling the healer using 'Hime-chan', Ichigo stopped searching for her exact location and snapped at his hollow. He didn't know why he was acting easily ticked off that day, it felt like somebody was ill-mouthing him behind his back.

_What are you gonna shit about this time?_

His hollow growled for a while. _**I ain't talkin' shit, boke. **_

_Yeah, yeah. So? What about her reiatsu?_

_**I don't really know, it's like she's excited or somethin'. **_

Excited? Ichigo scowled deeper when he couldn't understand an inkling of what his hollow was insinuating.

_Define 'excited', you sucker. I'm not in the mood to play guess here._

_**Gee… I don't know. Maybe ya can tell me.**_

The substitute shinigami was about to cuss when hollow-san –as Orihime had named it- sighed heavily.

_**Your reiatsu flared just like that sometimes… haven't ya noticed? Ah, I forgot Kingy. You were busy **_**dreamin'.**

At that point, Ichigo was leaning against a wall while he figured what the hell did his hollow mean by…

_**Seriously, can't ya remember? Think about last night…**_

_Last night?_

Ichigo thought hard about what happened the night before, and couldn't think of anything that could lead to the spike of his reiatsu. There was no hollow last night, and though he had bickered with Renji when the scarlet-haired Lieutenant came to the World of the Living, he didn't remember feeling 'excited' over beating the older shinigami. He blushed a faint pink when he _did_ remember what happened in his dream though.

_**Bingo, King.**_

Blinking, still not getting his hollow, Ichigo frowned. _Huh? What Bingo?_

He could hear his hollow giving a long suffering sigh and if he had been with the hollow in his inner world that time, he could see his white-haired counter-part pulling his hair out in frustration.

_**Your dream. Your **_**wet **_**dream with Hime-chan. **_

Ichigo, finally realizing what his hollow meant, blushed a deep red. He nearly forgot that him and his hollow shared the same mind, and while he couldn't decipher what his pervert hollow would be thinking, his hollow knew his every thoughts. But never had he expected the hollow to infiltrate his dreams too. He looked left and right, not really knowing why, and scratched the back of his neck out of nervousness. How far did his hollow see, actually?

_You're bull shitting, aren't you? You're just trying to yank-_

_**Hm… **_The hollow hummed in mock thoughtfulness before he mused.

_**Maybe I'm wrong… But those dream of yours were **_**so exciting**_**… if I take into account that ya actually got turned on the whole time… Yup, I'm right.**_

Clearing his throat to calm down his reddening face, Ichigo crossed his arms over his lean chest in an act of defiance.

_W-well, that still doesn't explain to me the spike in her reiatsu._

At that point, his hollow was grinning slyly. _**Do you remember that dream?**_

_Not really._

He remembered it clearly. As if knowing that he was lying, his hollow cackled teasingly.

_**Miles and miles of soft skin…**_

_Shut it._

_**She looked so soft, didn't she? Ever since you saw her in that swimsuit-**_

_Bastard. Shut up._

_**Ah… nice swimsuit. **_

_That swimsuit incident was months ago. It's freakin' autumn right now. So shut it._

Trying to ignore his hollow, Ichigo made a motion to shunpo when he tripped clumsily at something _Hollow-san _said.

_**Man, you were so turned on ya even masturbated.**_

If Rukia was there, she would've poured cold water on him. His ears were so red he could've sworn his brain would have exploded.

_I wasn't m-mas… _

_**Masturbating. **_Ichigo could hear the leer in the hollow's voice.

_God damn it, NO! I wasn't. I was just… just… _

_**Tryin' ta get a release? I understand, Kingy. **_

Ichigo sighed heavily. He was glad no one could see him at the moment, because he wouldn't know how to explain his red ears to anyone.

And he still didn't get what all of this… talk had anything to do with the spike in Orihime's reiatsu. And again, as usual, his hollow answered for him.

_**Maybe she's doin' something equally pleasurable, that could explain the spike in her reiatsu.**_

_Inoue? Oh, come on. To her, eating wasabi with strawberry ice cream is also pleasurable. It's not likely she would m-mas…_

_**Mas-tur-bate, Kingy.**_

_She wouldn't! She's not _that _type of girl, you oversexed dead soul._

_**Maybe **_**you **_**would like to see her that way. Not everyone's as innocent as ya think they are. Take yourself as an example, eh? I bet cha kinda like it when I implied that earlier.**_

Good god, Ichigo was sure he would be hyperventilating if his hollow wouldn't shut up any sooner. He couldn't, wouldn't bare to picture his sweet, sweet friend doing something as… sinful as… as… THAT. Who was he kidding? Inoue Orihime was far from anything sinful. It was true she had a nice, _such a nice _body and a godsend chest-

_**Ya like her long legs too.**_

-yeah, whatever (slaps himself). But, she was as pure and innocent as Yuzu, though there were _some _loose screws up her head. Yet strangely, that made her all the more special in her own way. She wasn't like others –though he couldn't really describe what the term 'others' meant- but she was just simply 'Orihime'. The bubbly, weird yet caring woman with a megawatt smile and beautiful eyes that could make a man as ruthless as Kenpachi to let his guard down even for a second and befriend the gentle healer.

Sighing yet again, Ichigo started to start walking again towards his body. Deciding to ignore his hollow, he rounded a corner as soon as he passed the library doors. He could feel Orihime's reiatsu getting nearer, yet he still couldn't see her. He scowled when he saw his soulless body, slumped against a wall. His clothes were soaking wet and stuck to him like a nearly-transparent membrane. He was busy fishing out his badge when he heard his hollow saying something he couldn't be bothered to listen.

"You know what? I'm gonna ignore you. She's not doing whatever you're thinking-"

"WELL TOO BAD, KUROSAKI-KUN! I HAVE A NEW MOVE AND IT'S SOOO COOL YOU WON'T EVEN BELIEVE I ACTUALLY CAN DO IT! DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT'S IT CALLED? HUH? DO YOU?"

"Inoue?" He frowned as he saw her perched on a branch, her skirt dangerously fluttering about her thighs.

"WELL IT'S CALLED SHITEN KOUSHUN! I TOLD YOU! IT'S COOL! NOW WHO'S WEAK NOW, HUH?"

Blinking, the orange-haired lad leapt onto the branch behind her. What was she talking about? He never took her as weak.

Orihime punched out a hand, and he had to admit that Tsubaki was quite skillful when it came to dodging her flailing arms.

"WHAT? YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, KUROSAKI-KUN! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!" at this, Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, his wet shihakushou stayed stuck to his skin. He wondered why she hated him. It kind of… hurt him. A bit.

Why did she hate him?

"I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS PROTECT ME!"

She was precious to him, of course he would protect her. Even if it took cutting off his limbs.

"I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU MAKE ME FEEL WEAK!"

He never thought her as weak. He knew she was of black-belt level in Karate. And to him, she was one of the strong-willed women he knew.

"I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT THAT I'M NOT A FIGHTER LIKE YOU!"

She wasn't a fighter, but she was important in a battle. She was talented in healing and even if he was good at kidou, he could never surpass her healing abilities.

"I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO DENSE WHEN IT'S CLEAR THAT I LIKE YOU! DON'T YOU KNOW KUROSAKI-KUN? I LIKE YOU!"

His eyes widened. Then it clicked to him.

She liked him? HIM?

_Oh…_ He liked her too. Very much at that. But he never thought she liked him. Why hadn't he noticed?

He watched as Tsubaki gave up from getting Orihime's attention and just sat on her head, the safest place to be when Inoue Orihime was busy pouring her heart out while she made weird gestures with her two hands. For a flick of a second, he admired her balance.

"DIDN'T YOU KNOW?"

His ears perked. Patiently, he hung onto her words. _Know what?_

He saw Orihime's straightened posture slump a bit, and cursed inwardly as she sighed almost quietly and looked downcast. He hated that look on her face. He didn't want her to look sad, because of him.

"Didn't you know… Before I went to Hueco Mundo… I made a vow that if… that if I… if I were to live five lifetimes, I would always love one person… Didn't you know… Kurosaki-kun?"

A sense of Dejavu washed over him. Five lifetimes?

"He doesn't know, right?"

No, he never knew.

"Yup, he's a stubborn punk and a stupid bastard."

Ichigo couldn't bring himself to care about the little flying man. He was too dumbstruck to think of squashing Tsubaki like a bug.

"No, he's not. He's just… withdrawn… sometimes I just wish… I just wish that I know what to do to cheer him up… you know… The right words to say to him… I want to be a good friend to him, like Sado-kun and Renji-kun and Rukia-chan and Tatsuki-chan…"

She never had to do anything more for him. Just her smile would lighten him up, he admitted it. And it made him sort of jealous when he heard her saying Renji's name.

"I love him. I know, it's stupid."

Yeah, she was stupid. For falling for a guy like him. He didn't deserve anyone like Orihime. Karin had made that clear once, that Orihime was way out of his league.

But he didn't actually care about that.

"I hate you, Kurosaki-kun… for making me feel this way. I hate you! I REALLY REALLY REALLY HATE YOU!"

When she breathed a satisfied sigh, everything seemed to dawn on him.

She loved him?

It was so overwhelming that the only response he could give was swallow thickly and call out to her.

"Uh… Inoue?"

He wanted to smack himself. Couldn't he say something more intelligent? He couldn't even tell if he was blushing or not. He couldn't give a shit when she turned around to face him.

Behind her wet bangs, her eyes widened. Her lips parted when she gasped.

Her hairpins were out of place, and she looked like a soaked Persian kitten.

His eyes lowered momentarily at her chest and noticed the outline of her white lace, and looked back up to meet her eyes as he cleared his throat.

A very, very wet Persian kitten.

"K-Kurosaki-kun?"

Her voice sounded weird, but he didn't notice that when he saw her worrying her lower lip.

He wanted to kiss her, badly.

Ichigo cleared his throat, again.

"You're here… um… aren't you going home?"

As if a switch was flicked on, Orihime started laughing nervously.

"W-Well, Tatsuki-chan was supposed to walk with me today but she had practice and I forgot about it and then I told her it's okay, that I can walk home by myself. But she said that some prisoners were on the loose and she was worried about me and I said that I'll ask Sado-kun and Ishida-kun to walk me home but when I wanted to call them, I realized I can't because you know, I left my cell phone at home, so I can't possibly call them. Ah… If only Enraku can walk here like Kon then I would have been able to call them , you know. Ne, Kurosaki-kun, do you know that Enraku is a teddy bear? Nii-chan gave it to me and I just bought a new ribbon for him. Yes, Enraku's a boy but I prefer to put ribbons on him, because he seems to like it.

She paused for a while, to wait for Ichigo to nod. And when he did, she continued.

"So anyway, I decided to stay here to wait for the rain to stop and then when it did stop, I wanted to climb down but I noticed the soil below me is wet and muddy and I didn't want to stain my shoes because they're white. Do you know that white shoes are hard to clean once they get muddy? But then when I thought about it again, I was actually afraid to climb down because I don't really know how to climb down without Tatsuki-chan helping me. I used to just hop down but seeing the mud I-"

"Basically you're like a cat that got caught on top of a tree?"

Orihime stopped rambling when she heard Ichigo cut him, before his ears would twist and turn and his eyes would go cross.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I think so."

It was silent for a while when Ichigo decided to speak up his mind. "Why do you hate me?"

Orihime blinked rapidly and then she looked down, the beginning of a blush staining her cheeks.

"Because… you make me feel weak."

"What makes you think like that?"

She lifted her face to look at him for a heartbeat before she looked away.

"You always tell me to stay back when you're fighting. I just wanted to help you."

"I was protecting you."

The healer looked at him, a smiled on her face. A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"That's why. You protect me too much. You've seen what I can do, right? I can fight too."

Scowling, Ichigo growled out. "I don't want you to fight."

Orihime turned around, not wanting to look at the stubborn man. "Kurosaki-kun can be so stubborn at times. I did protect you from Ginjo using Shiten Koushun once."

"You're one to talk, Inoue. You're stubborn too sometimes." He scoffed, but he regretted saying so as soon as Orihime turned around to look at him, her eyes narrowed and a pout materialized on her face. It was meant to show him that she was kind of cross with him, but he thought it was cute.

"You never let me protect you, Kurosaki-kun."

He inwardly groaned. Suddenly he hated hearing her calling him 'Kurosaki-kun'. What was wrong with her? She called Yuzu and Karin by their names and she even called his dad 'Isshin-san'. His scowl deepened as he looked into her eyes.

"I don't want to lose you."

There, he said it.

Orihime's blush instantly disappeared, and her pout suddenly wiped off. Her face was as blank as it could get at that moment. Ichigo looked away for a while, his eyes sad and his face forlorn.

"I lost my mom."

He swallowed and took a breath, as if recalling his mother was the hardest thing to do for him. Orihime knew that it was really hard for him, and guilt enveloped her heart at that moment.

"She was the kindest woman I've ever met. I never saw her being angry at me, she always smiled. She liked to smile, and I liked her smile. I loved her smile so much that I promised to myself to protect that smile on her face."

He let out a heavy sigh. "When she died, I lost her smiles. Though I do remember how she lightened me up, it's always a fact that I lost her forever."

Orihime nearly fell off the tree when he looked at her and held her gaze. A corner of his mouth kicked up a fraction.

"I don't want to lose you too. You like to smile, and I like it. I don't need words to make me cheer up, Rukia and Renji are as annoying as they can get," he chuckled a bit at that, followed by Orihime's giggle.

"But no one has ever smiled at me like you do."

Her giggles stopped dead. "K-Kurosaki-kun… um…"

His smile disappeared as his eyes bore into hers. "I'll be damned if I lose you."

Orihime began to feel her cheeks warming. She swallowed. Ichigo moved from his branch to stand in front of her, and she was mildly surprised that the branch didn't break.

"Please, Inoue. Let me protect you. You're… important to me."

He brought up his hand to remove the strands covering her forehead and for a while he really considered kissing her.

"Can I kiss you?"

She didn't answer but by the blush on her cheeks, he could tell she liked the idea. He could feel her fidgeting and wondered why.

"Are you okay, Inoue?"

She nodded, then she shook her head.

"I can't get down from this tree, Kurosaki-kun."

He chuckled, and caught Orihime off-guard when he slung her over a shoulder. Reflexively, she clutched onto his shihakushou, sputtering nonsense.

"People would think I'm flying!"

"Relax, no one's here." And with that, he leapt off the tree and landed smoothly onto the ground to where Rukia left his body.

Orihime laughed when he landed. "That was fun."

Not wanting to let her warmth leave him, Ichigo let her slide down his body, purposely letting her slide slowly. Agonizingly slow, that it made his hollow growl out of frustration. He swallowed thickly when she landed on her feet and looked at him in eyes. The tip of her tongue darted out to wet her lips and his eyes followed the pink tip with his eyes.

"Damn it all." He muttered before he brought her close to him, momentarily forgetting his shell of a body.

Pushing his hollow away, and locking it away safely, he held her. His lips exerted a gentle pressure against her half open mouth as one hand rested against the small of her back while the other cupped her cheek. Ichigo had been daydreaming about kissing her so many days now. He had wondered what she tasted like when he watched her eat her lunch. He wondered how soft her lips were when she worried them while solving a particularly tough math problem. He wondered how she would feel under his hands as he would hold her.

Her lips were incredibly soft and pliable under his. They offered no resistance to him as he pressed harder, again and again. She let out a soft whimper that seemed to resonate throughout his body, her hands clutching at the front of his shihakushou, bunching the material in her hands. He desperately wanted to taste her, to explore her, to play with her. He opened his mouth slightly, his tongue gently licking her lips, silently asking permission. Again a shudder went through her body as she shyly parted her lips. Her arms slid up around his neck as their tongues coyly brushed against each other.

He was definitely on fire.

It took another moan from her for him to break the kiss for much needed air. He watched as Orihime's eyes flutter open, to reveal stormy grey eyes looking back at him. Ichigo rested his forehead against hers and grinned slightly.

"Do you still hate me?"

Orihime smiled shyly and shook her head before she pulled him down for another toe-curling kiss.

"You're forgiven, Kurosaki-kun."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So there you have it, my first IchiHime oneshot. Just so you know, this idea is originally mine. So you can expect this to be overly-sappy.**


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